Applied Scientist III, Sponsored Products

Amazon Inc.; Seattle, Northern (WA, KY); Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 226,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon seeks an Applied Scientist III for Sponsored Products to advance AI-driven advertising. You will design rigorous ML methods to understand how traffic sources and user journeys influence purchasing and revenue, using experimentation and causal inference.

You will translate findings into actionable recommendations for product and engineering, and mentor junior scientists to raise the team’s scientific bar.

Qualifications

• PhD or master's degree with significant applied research experience.
• Experience building ML models for business applications.
• Proficiency in Java, C++, or Python.

Responsibilities

• Develop rigorously methods to understand traffic sources, journeys, and onsite experiences using ML and causal inference.
• Design scientifically complex software solutions or systems and guide their development.
• Translate findings into clear recommendations for product, engineering, and business partners.
• Mentor junior scientists and explore generative AI opportunities to improve efficiency.

Skills

ML models

Java

C++

Python

Deep learning

Education

PhD or MS + 6+ years research

Tools

Hadoop

Spark

TensorFlow

scikit-learn

MxNet

Spark MLLib

Numpy

Scipy

Job description

Applied Scientist III, Sponsored Products

Job ID: 10567070 | Amazon.com Services LLC

The Sponsored Products and Brands (SPB) team at Amazon Ads is re-imagining advertising through generative AI technologies, changing how customers discover products and engage with brands across Amazon.com and beyond. We combine human creativity with artificial intelligence to improve every stage of the advertising lifecycle, from ad creation and optimization to performance analysis and customer insights. We are dedicated to developing responsible AI technologies that balance advertiser needs and improve the shopping experience.

In this role, you will develop rigorous methods to understand how traffic sources, customer journeys, and onsite experiences influence purchasing and revenue. You will use experimentation, causal inference, statistical analysis, and machine learning to distinguish correlation from true business impact and identify the drivers of performance changes. You will work with product, engineering, and business partners to translate complex findings into clear recommendations, design measurable interventions, and build tools that support faster diagnosis and better investment decisions. If you are energized by solving complex challenges at the intersection of AI and measurement science, we would love to talk to you.

Key job responsibilities

• Develop methods to understand how traffic sources, customer journeys, and onsite experiences drive purchasing and revenue, using experimentation, causal inference, and machine learning to separate correlation from true business impact.
• Drive or heavily influence the design of scientifically complex software solutions or systems, taking ownership of components and providing system-wide design guidance for both new and evolving systems.
• Define a long-term science vision and roadmap, combining science leadership, technical depth, and business understanding.
• Translate complex findings into clear recommendations for product, engineering, and business partners, and build tools that support faster diagnosis and better investment decisions.
• Mentor junior scientists, raise the scientific bar across the team, and identify opportunities where generative AI can accelerate learning and efficiency.

A day in the life

You might start your morning reviewing anomaly detection outputs to understand a recent shift in traffic patterns, then move into a working session with engineers to refine how an attribution model is served in production. After lunch, you could lead a design review for a new quasi-experimental framework with product and finance partners. Later, you might pair with a junior scientist on their causal inference approach, helping them sharpen their methodology before presenting results to leadership.

About the team

The Sponsored Products and Brands team builds solutions that extend advertising campaigns beyond the Amazon store, reaching shoppers across third‑party websites and apps where they search and shop. We pair large‑scale, low‑latency systems with advanced machine learning to deliver high‑quality sponsored experiences to advertisers and shoppers alike.

Within this team, the measurement program is a growing area of investment focused on understanding how shoppers arrive at Amazon and how that traffic translates into advertiser and business results. This is a high‑visibility role where your work will directly inform investment decisions and product strategy. We are a distributed team of scientists, engineers, and product managers who partner closely with other cross‑functional teams across the organization. If you want to shape how Amazon measures and improves the customer journey, this is the team to join.

Basic Qualifications

• 3+ years of building machine learning models for business application experience
• PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
• Experience with neural deep learning methods and machine learning

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with modeling tools such as R, scikit‑learn, Spark MLLib, MxNet, Tensorflow, numpy, scipy etc.
• Experience with large scale distributed systems such as Hadoop, Spark etc.

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign‑on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits .

USA, NY, New York - 183,800.00 - 248,700.00 USD annually
USA, WA, SEATTLE - 167,100.00 - 226,100.00 USD annually

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status. Veterans, military spouses, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.